Life, 1903-11-05 · page 15 of 38
Life — November 5, 1903 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon, captioned "The Indifference of Some Men is Simply Beyond Belief," depicts a man seated indifferently while a woman stands nearby with a child—satirizing male detachment from domestic or family responsibilities. The "English" section is a humorous essay mocking American regional speech and pretension. It jokes that English has "half a million words" but Americans overuse certain terms like "brilliant" (applied indiscriminately to senators, society, and stove polish). It also contains xenophobic jabs at German speakers and dismisses Kansas City and Chicago speech as suitable only for "picnics or large receptions." "Immortal Mind" appears to be satire of Christian Science's claim to transcend "common sense" through thought alone. The final aphorism mocks marriage becoming routine habit rather than a conscious choice. The page reflects early 20th-century American satirical magazine sensibilities: domestic comedy, linguistic snobbery, and gentle mockery of contemporary movements like Christian Science.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TUR INDIPPRKENCE OF SOME MEN 15 SIMPLY BEYOND RELUEF. English. HERE are about half a million words in Eng- lish. Thought’s English wardrobe is thus easily its largest, in the num- ver of separate costumes. The German makes a bigger show by using several shirt waists with one skirt. Many words of lish are seldom used west of Quinsigamond Pond, south of Providence Plantations and north of the Androscoggin. Other words, how- ever, are worked to death everywhere, conspicuous among these being the word brilliant, which is applied indis- criminately to senators, society and stove polish. The phrase, King’s English, still has its force, Mr. Morgan's attention having been pretty much taken up, hitherto, with railways and steam- boats. The English tongue is certainly a noble tongue—not to disparage Kansas City and Chicago tongues, which are very nice for picnics or large receptions. Immortal Mind. sp One: “In Christian Science And all its cheap pretens Have we placed at defiance The laws of common sense?" Said Two: ‘Nay, friend, more steady We are than we m Why, this is but an In thought’s great gathering stream.” seem. M ARRIAGE is all very well, but it = should never be allowed to be- come a habit. comicbooks.com